POLITICAL pressure is building on Public Protector Thuli Madonsela, who believes there is a collective strategy to erode the credibility of her office ahead of the release this week of the report on upgrades to President Jacob Zuma’s private residence in Nkandla.
Ms Madonsela spoke to Business Day on Sunday just after Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Tina Joemat-Pettersson said she had filed a high court action to have Ms Madonsela’s findings against her set aside.
This comes after a group of religious leaders, acting in support of another of the targets of Ms Madonsela’s findings, SABC chief operating officer Hlaudi Motsoeneng, prayed last week for the "demons to be cast out of her office". And City Press newspaper reported on Sunday that African National Congress (ANC) members were being encouraged to disregard Ms Madonsela’s report on Nkandla, which will be released on Wednesday. The newspaper said the ANC believed the Nkandla report was designed to influence the outcome of May’s elections.
In November, ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe questioned Ms Madonsela’s neutrality in the Nkandla investigation.
"Perhaps the media should ask why I have suddenly become incompetent," Ms Madonsela said on Sunday. "With the same minister there were no problems previously, and with others such as (former ANC Youth League leader Julius) Malema and (former national police commissioner Bheki) Cele. Perhaps the City Press is onto something."
She was referring to her report that said Mr Malema, now the leader of the Economic Freedom Fighters, had benefited from the awarding of tenders in Limpopo through corrupt means in 2012.
In 2011, Ms Madonsela found Mr Cele guilty of maladministration in the awarding of a lease for the new police head office in Pretoria. A direct consequence of that report was Mr Cele’s removal from office by Mr Zuma.
Ms Joemat-Pettersson’s court challenge is to Ms Madonsela’s findings that, as minister in charge of the country’s fishing patrol vessels, which are supposed to be monitoring its waters, she was guilty of maladministration and of causing a loss of confidence in South Africa’s fishing industry and should be disciplined by Mr Zuma.
This was the second finding by Ms Madonsela against Ms Joemat-Pettersson. In 2012, she ordered Ms Joemat-Pettersson to repay the R400,000 it cost for her to fly back to South Africa from Sweden to help with Mr Zuma’s wedding.
The report, released in December on the day former president Nelson Mandela died, concerned the controversial awarding of the fishing patrol vessel tender worth about R800m annually, its sudden withdrawal and the handing over of the ships to the South African Navy, which was unable to maintain them. The vessels subsequently fell into disrepair and lost their seaworthiness certification and have had to be refurbished at a cost of R500m.
Ms Joemat-Pettersson said on Sunday that she respected the public protector’s office but had serious issues with the report.
Ms Madonsela acknowledged Ms Joemat-Pettersson’s right to ask for a review, but said it would be a waste of state legal resources "as there is no likelihood that a judge would find my decision irrational on the current facts and regulatory framework".
She said the law states that the president has to notify Parliament within 15 days of the public protector handing in a report of what his intention is. "Only once Parliament has conducted a debate on the matter can the report be taken on review (to a court)."
- BDLive
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